Slayer’s Tom Araya: Once We Take Care of Legal Issues, Then We’ll See What the Future Holds

We recently sat down with Tom Araya to talk all things Slayer. In this chunk of our exclusive interview, Araya explains how Slayer needs to settle a number of legal issues before they can move forward with writing new material.

Slayer guitarist Gary Holt, who replaced Jeff Hanneman after he initially fell ill with necrotizing fasciitis, has been sharing his excitement about the prospect of writing a new Slayer album. Araya has been hearing Gary’s rumblings in the press, along with in-person. “He’s mentioned it. He’s kind of throwing stuff [at me],” Araya says lightheartedly. “He’s like a kid — ‘Hey, hey, hey!’ Poking you with a stick.”

A new Slayer album would also mean continued touring for the thrash legends. Araya has shared his distaste for the travel of touring, but he isn’t ready to make a decision on Slayer’s future until legal issues concerning the late Jeff Hanneman are tied up. “There were a lot of things we didn’t take care of when Jeff was alive,” says Araya. “Only now are we taking care of those things, so once we take all that stuff and get it taken care of, then we’ll see what the future holds.”

Araya adds, “Jeff passed away and that’s when we found all of these loose ends. ‘What do you mean? Didn’t we take care of this?’ We all had this frame of mind that all that was taken care of… and come to find out it wasn’t.”

Regardless of what the future holds for Slayer, Tom Araya calls Gary Holt an amazing shredder and praises Holt’s solo work on Repentless. Check out our interview with Tom Araya above!